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Teachers in trouble

“Horrified he was a governor”

Mr Picewicz had continued as a community governor at Rowan Park for almost a decade until his removal late last year.

The school’s decision came after Tim O’Malley, who said he was taught by Mr Picewicz at St Mary’s College in the 1980s, alerted them to his background.

Mr O’Malley, 50, from Southport, said: “I was horrified to see he was a governor of a school that teaches vulnerable children. It’s not as if he’s a John Smith from Kent - he harassed teachers and ran a high-profile campaign just a few miles away.

“They are saying my information had nothing to do with it, but that’s literally unbelievable - 18 years he’s been a governor there and within weeks of me alerting them they get rid of him.”

“I sidefooted a boy up the backside”

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Mr Picewicz told the ECHO: “I was told it was because I had not been to meetings as I was working.

“It was nothing to do with that palava where I was wrongly accused of hurting a boy. Some of the things levelled against me were untrue and malicious.

“I didn’t manhandle a boy - I actually sidefooted a boy up the backside. I was on my own with 60 pupils and some were misbehaving. I told some to sit down but one jumped up and started shouting.

“I apologised to the boy and parents afterwards. I shouldn’t have done it but it was on the spur of the moment - and it worked.

“Not one pupil saw me apparently slam one boy’s head against a locker - that claim was out or order.

“Apparently there was another incident, where a boy was misbehaving - I shouted at him and he said I spat at him. That claim was totally out of order too.

“I had a terrible time after the head levelled allegations against me - I had worked there 31 years and had to fight it.”

“He was removed after failing to attend meetings”

Karen Lynskey, head of Rowan Park, also said: “In line with school policy, he was removed from the board of governors in 2016 after failing to attend regular meetings or having any other involvement in the school.”

She added: “We firmly believe the school has followed all the relevant checks and procedures since Mr Picewicz was appointed in 1999.

“As a community governor, Mr Picewicz had limited powers and no senior role on the board of governors.”

But the school’s business manager told Mr O’Malley last year in emails seen by the ECHO that his concerns were being “taken very seriously” and would have an “immediate impact”.

He said he would be in touch once Sefton council had decided on its response, and then emailed a month later confirming Mr Picewicz was no longer a governor.